Phone Book Advertising Mostly a Thing of the Past, PCOs Report

Times have changed and most of today’s customers use other platforms to find service providers. According to results from a recent PCT Reader Poll, 93 percent do not advertise in phone books, while only 7 percent do.

Christie Rush, vice president of marketing and communications, Northwest Exterminating, Marietta, Ga., said Northwest has not advertised in phone books in about five years. “Customers typically found our local offices through platforms like Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc., and maintaining that accurate digital presence on all platforms became the priority,” she said. “Over time, we found fewer of our local customers utilizing Yellow Pages as an ongoing resource or ‘service finder’ compared to other available platforms.”

Similarly, Billy Oleson, CEO of PestStop, Olympia, Wash., said PestStop “stopped about five years ago using print. Then they tried to push everyone to online and we had a horrible experience.” After pulling the plug on phone book print ads (and those books’ online platforms), Oleson said PestStop “took that money and put it into a company that did a combination of SEO and PPC, then later added in LSA. We’ve noticed an increase ever since.”

Oleson added that if you are still doing print advertising, “I can’t stress enough having a tracking number so you can figure out you ROI and see if it’s worth it.”

When Jeff King, president/CEO of The Pest Rangers, Hanover Twp., Pa., launched his company in 2008, he took out an ad in a phone book. “Come 2009, when the rep came back, I initially signed up to be in the book again, but changed my mind days later when I realized I could purchase two new trucks with the price of the ad. I called the rep back and tore the contract up and never looked back.”

Today, King relies on his website, Google My Business and constant branding to attract new customers.